Kingdom Hearts The Beginning of the End
by ChroniclerLoki
Summary: The Chasers, all that is really known about them is that they are indecently powerful and that they want all Keyblade Bearers dead. So that brings up the question 'How does somebody defeat something like that' Rated M for later in the story.
1. Prologue

**Thank you for taking the time to read this. This is my first fic, so please review and tell me how I'm doing, and how I could improve.**

**Warning, the only thing I own in this is the original characters, and much of the story line.**

_The night wind outside howled in the fury of the storm, branches of nearby trees scratching the windows of the ancient library. A lone figure stood outside the well balanced iron bound door opening the complex locks holding the door shut. The door swung outward in silence and the figure picked up the candle at his feet. The flickering light from the tiny flame glinted off of his small square glasses as he pulled the door shut behind him, causing the door to lock itself again. Chips of paint and stone flaked off the wall as the door settled in place again and the thick dust around the library stirred slightly as new air disturbed the peace._

_He walked silently and reverently toward the back of the library, past racks, shelves, and rows of books stacked neatly and carefully, to one book in particular that had been placed upon a pedestal in the one place where a single window high overhead would allow light down upon the book except for the storm. He wiped the dust off the cover revealing an emblem that stood off the cover like a door knocker, the head of a great lion with a ring clamped tight in its mouth cast from silver. The book came to life, ghostly flames igniting in its eyes._

_The lock binding the book shut vanished and it opened to the first page which read; Thus it is written in the long kept histories of Disney Castle: The Keyblade, created from the oldest and most uncontrolled powers from the heart of one who was pure, a female child dead at fourteen from an illness none could cure. Given freely her gift was untainted, but it also took part of her heart and mind, giving the Keyblade purpose and intelligence of its own. It always seemed to appear when needed most, choosing the least likely people to use it, but always ones whose heart outshone the others. The original Keyblade, a weapon never given name but becoming known as the True Keyblade, held immense power which it bestowed upon the Chosen, one with whom the Keyblade would bond for the protection of the worlds._

_Such individuals always had the strength of heart needed to allow the Keyblade to hold a key chain which multiplied and focused the Keyblades power, even the lesser Keyblades were able to benefit from such a boost. The shape of the Keyblade and its attached key chain were usually determined by the will of the heart it chose, but the first Keyblade held the ability to take any key chain and change its form to reflect this and gain the abilities associated with the former Keyblade of the key chain._

_The race that made the Keyblade made thousands of such weapons, though they all had power, only the original, being the strongest and most powerful, could lock the Darkness away thus preserving the worlds. But this would have lead to pain and misery as the Darkness would have fought back. So instead they used the combined power of all the Keyblades to create a symbol of peace and hope, where the light could remain undisturbed at the heart of all things. Thus came the creation of Kingdom Hearts. But the Darkness grew jealous and used its control to turn the few it could against the rest of that race._


	2. Chapter 1: Knight of Chaos

**Again I say, only the original content in the story, ie the characters I created and much of the story content belongs to me.**

The city stood in quiet darkness this night, a lone figure stood strait and tall his hands folded behind his back, his long black cloak gently swaying in the breeze. His clothing, though loose on his spare frame was immaculate, black slacks, black vest and white shirt properly pressed and tucked into his slacks.

Light from a nearby window reflected oddly off his long hooked nose and bald head. A wicked gleam shone in his dark eyes and his thin lips were drawn back in a nasty grin. The Darkness had called and now was the time for him to give his answer.

The palace was currently beyond his reach having been lifted to the skies for the night. But this was still to be an effective display of his power and why the Darkness could not be opposed. The clock tower behind him struck midnight and he raised his left hand into the air above his head. All the advanced technology of his people wouldn't save them from his wrath. It was his work that had created the True Keyblade, he was to have been the one to be made its guardian.

But the fool weapon had vanished following the heart that had been placed within it. His research had allowed those fools to create a weapon that in the right hands would be unstoppable, and yet he had been shunned by the fruit of his labor and called a monster by his own people. Those fools had taken his life's research and twisted it for the vile purposes of protecting the many while blocking him from interfering. Idiots, they didn't know that by making the Keyblade without him they were committing an even bigger crime against the universe than if he had done it himself. Revenge had been a sweet dish he had savored and now it was time for the fools to have their just deserts.

He had located the house of his first victim in the square and lowered his hand in its direction, a pure black orb of power shooting out of his palm faster than light and crashed into the building shaking it to the foundations, the family within staggering out just before it collapsed to rubble. His smile widened if at all possible on his narrow face, and the evil glint in his eyes flashed dangerously.

Turning his hand palm up and curling his fingers around a nonexistent ball he exerted his power on the family and ripped their hearts from their unwilling bodies, gaining power as he did so, their hearts floating up until they disappeared to join with Kingdom Hearts. The family save for an elderly woman who stood with help from a cane became Shadow Heartless. The woman spawned a Shadow Heartless and a Dusk Nobody and something else that was left behind by their splitting. It was as the Darkness had promised, his act had spawned creatures to sow chaos and discord allowing him to work unencumbered.

The Shadows and the Dusk dispersed to follow their instincts and putting his hand behind his back again he turned toward the nude form on the ground. It rose to its full height, half a head taller than him, displaying its powerfully muscular form. Unmistakably female, not a single strand of hair on her body she stood erect and proud waiting for his commands. She had a cold, dark and regal beauty about her that could not be denied or ignored. He looked into her black eyes and she nodded in understanding, needing no words exchanged between them now that a bond had been forged. She exhaled a jet black cloud of pure Darkness that enveloped her well developed unclothed form.

The cloud condensed into black armor strong enough to withstand most attacks, even stronger still so that it could withstand her great strength yet light enough to not encumber her great speed. The full helmet completely enclosed, showing no seam nor opening for her to see out of. His low voice, like the angry hiss of a viper cut the silence as people began to come out of their homes to find out what the disturbance was. "You are my first, and the eldest of the intended family. I name you Chasers, for that is your purpose. Let us liberate your sister and brother and we can rid ourselves of the abominations that plague us."

She dropped to one knee before him, her left hand resting upon her knee, her right clenched in a fist at her breast. Her cold, cruel voice rang out, oddly distorted by her helmet. "After so long imprisoned in hearts of Light, no name, no purpose and no communion. I can once more hear the will of Mother Darkness, and it calls for the destruction of these abominations Keyblades and Kingdom Hearts."

She rose in one smooth motion holding her hands out to her sides streams of pure Darkness flowing from her clenched fists forming into twin black Keyblades that were rather aptly named the Harbingers of Death and Destruction. Their sharp edges and wicked curves glinted in the weak light of the now burning houses. Numerous Heartless now circled the pair, instinctively feeling their powerful hearts, but not daring to attack from respect and fear of the Keyblades.

"Foolish creatures, gathering around their betters as though we would provide them with a good meal. Let us leave these pests to their fun. Your siblings await their freedom."

"Yes master. My name is Ash, Bringer of the Night." The street was in chaos. Houses burned, trees were toppled, and Heartless ran amok, many different breeds already beginning to appear. The street shattered under the weight of an enormous Heartless as it stalked by.

People ran in all directions screaming in fear, some getting away to warn others. Most were consumed by the now overwhelming tide of Heartless, their hearts captured by the Darkness. Three people strolled through the turmoil as if nothing were wrong, joking casually and idly dispatching Heartless that carelessly came too near their Keyblades.

Each wore only a bright, garishly colored bathrobe and fuzzy bedroom slippers. Keyblades having the tendency of identifying themselves to those able to hear their call when they get near exchanged greetings as they approached the pair standing untouched in the heart of the chaos. Upon having the names of the armored figures Keyblades whispered through their minds they immediately became cautious and wary of the figures.

The man in the middle, a man of average height, muscular from combat training, with features of a hawk, auburn hair and gray-white eyes stopped his companions just within the ring of Heartless, which strangely moved to neither attack or close the circle. He held his Keyblade at the ready knowing that despite its power and his trained skill this would not end well. His Keyblade, the Gale Force, was a small, quick blade that was designed like a cloud and whose only ornamentation was a key chain shaped like a tornado. It wavered slightly in his hand, not from fear, but from the elemental power of air that it embraced.

Aside from her blue hair and eyes the woman standing to his left looked vaguely catlike. Her soft, heart shaped face, small nose which looked very cute, but she'd hurt anybody who said so, and independent nature made her a lovely woman in her own right. But her distant gaze and her either inability or unwillingness to speak very much made her a bit difficult for most people to understand, let alone remain in her company for extended periods of time. She may have been as strong as the man in the middle, if not stronger. She was supple and willowy, able to bend from danger like a reed in the wind. She was quick, agile, cunning, and unable to leave her friends in danger.

Her Keyblade, the Silent Guardian, was huge. It was as long as she was tall, and that did not include the handle, and had multiple layers that could split apart creating a defensive shield, or more sharp edges to cut her enemies with. It also had the ability to split into two Keyblades to cause even more trouble for her opponents. It's many blades were all adorned by an interconnecting pattern of brightly glowing blue lines of light whose image could only be seen when the twin pieces of her split Keyblade were deployed into the best shield available, showing an imposing and impregnable castle set atop a cliff. The twin handles of her unusual Keyblade had key chains shaped like the Phalanx shields favored by Greek warriors, the Spartans in particular.

The third member of the group was a jovial young man with spiked blond hair that he could never get to lay flat despite his best efforts, piercing blue eyes like that of the girl, irrepressible kindness, an unwavering smile, and really big feet. That being said he was also the shortest of the group, five and a half feet tall, skinny, and not nearly as muscled or skilled as his friends for his lack of training, but he seemed to have a natural talent that more than made up for any lack in recognizable skill he may have possessed. His Keyblade was the most notable of the group, not for any fancy embellishments in its design, or indeed any differentiating design whatsoever, it merely looked like a standard Victorian Era key. A single heavy bar linking the gold handle and the teeth of the key which had a distinctive crown shaped pattern to them, and a key chain composed simply of three circles. It was the Kingdom Key, and despite its humble appearance it held great power, though for some reason many mistake it for the True Keyblade which bore a similar appearance before disappearing to find its own form and chosen bearer.

Speaking low enough to go unheard by the unsavory company they were currently keeping the leader of the group spoke. "Kira, Happy, I think we have found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. Let us leave before we overstay our welcome." The blond turned to the other man and speaking equally low started to argue with him. "Must you always call me Happy?" "Well must you always be so insufferably happy?" In an unusual and uncharacteristic outburst Kira spoke loud enough to cut off their argument. "Boys, enough. Its the Monster."

For the first time since they entered the circle he turned his attention upon the Keyblade Bearers standing off to the side of his awareness. His eyes sparkled with amusement and recognition as his gaze fell upon the girl staring at him with utter contempt. "Ah, if it isn't the child with a secret. It has been what, ten years? Do you still bear the mark of your shame?" His speech ended in cruel laughter.

Still not speaking loud enough to give away any important information he asked, "What is he talking about Kira? How do you know him?" With tears building in her eyes she shook her head fiercely. "Not now, Dante." With a humorous groan and chuckle the blond turned to Dante. "Not good man, she called you buy your true name and not a nickname." "Shut your mouth Happy."

The armored figure approached them menacingly, tightening her grip upon her Keyblades. Looking at the moon the man sighed. "Ash, let us go. We have important tasks to complete this night. Soon they will understand that they and their ilk cannot escape the Chasers. Soon all Bearers of the Keyblades will feel the power of the Darkness, and their deaths will be ever so sweet." With that a portal of Darkness opened behind them and they backed into it, disappearing to who knew where.

Without the influence of more powerful creatures of Darkness holding them back the Heartless in the circle attacked. Each of the Heartless seemed completely oblivious to the fact that the guys existed as they all went strait towards Kira. The three of them defeated the twenty Heartless and, rather than wait for more to find them, ran into the nearest alley. They were so distracted that it took them a moment to notice the lone figure leaning against the wall.

**Alright, now I am having fun, and we get to meet someone of varying importance to the story.**

**?? "Why am I here?"**

**Because it was necessary.**

**?? "Whatever."**

**Well, that was odd, but hey, review and tell me what you did and did not like, PLEASE?**


	3. Chapter 2: More Questions Than Answers

He was about 5'9", had blue gray eyes, and long brown hair. He wore small, thin framed glasses, a nice blue button down shirt decorated with a gray tribal flame emblem, and faded blue jeans. He had a silver fountain pen tucked behind his right ear, an Akashic Record with a peculiar lion emblem on the front cover tied to his back, and an odd aura of wisdom about him that seemed to mock his apparent youth. Curiously the book was chained shut, the chains looping through the ring clamped in the lion's jaws. The lion's eyes burned with wisdom and compassion in an odd blue spectral light, ghostly flames calmly rising from the eyes and haloing the lion's mane.

Leaning against the wall at his side was the strangest Keyblade they had ever seen. Perfectly symmetrical its split blade form was composed entirely of extremely sharp free floating crystals bound together by an unknown power. It glowed with the same light and flames as the eyes of the lion and the occasional flash of lightning connected some of the crystals in a raw display of power. The name Heart of All seemed an odd choice for the blade, but a Keyblade names itself and nobody can change it.

Even though he didn't seem the sort to speak very often unless it was important, he spoke now. "You each get two questions and before you ask them I can answer the first three you can think of. The questions you ask from there are up to you but I suggest you choose them with care. As for who I am, I am the Chronicler. That is enough information to answer the first question, but I apologize for I am not allowed to divulge more than that."

To everyone's surprise it was Kira who answered his comment. "Well that seems reasonable to me. Some knowledge is best kept until the proper time." A small smile played across his lips in response to her comment but he refrained from answering for she had not asked a question. "As for the second question, what is going on?"

He paused a moment to see that they were paying attention for he had no intention of repeating himself. "The man you know as the Monster is releasing the Chasers, which are ancient and powerful children of the Darkness. They can effectively be considered the Lords of the Darkness as they rule over all other Darkness spawned creatures. In the process of setting them free he has unleashed two powerful forces of destruction upon the worlds: the Heartless whose only goal in their altered and misguided lives is to feed upon the hearts of those who dwell in the light thus multiplying their numbers. And the Nobodies, which are created when a person that has an especially powerful heart is taken by the Darkness, basically the body that is left behind when the heart is taken continues on, in most cases, in search of the heart it lost. I have heard rumor of a third type of creature that is created when someone with such a heart is taken, but I have never seen one, and I have never heard of them being named."

"So what will it be? I do suggest that you hurry, we don't have much time." To accentuate his point there was a nearby explosion followed by the spectacular combination of a dozen Thundaga spells. Taking the hint Dante stepped forward to ask his questions. "How strong are the Chasers?"

"With only one of the Chasers free it is only about as strong as you or I. As the others are freed they will gain in strength so as to best most ordinary opponents. Then once they start killing the Keyblade Bearers they will absorb the skills and abilities of each one killed, as well as taking the Keyblades for themselves."

Dante thought for a moment before asking his next question. "How can a Keyblade serve a master it didn't choose?"

"That is an unfortunate question, and an unfortunate answer as well. A Keyblade will willingly choose a person with a stronger heart than their original chosen, if presented with the opportunity. But most Keyblades are completely opposed to Evil for it would consume everything and leave nothing untouched, as we are now learning the hard way. This forces a Chaser to use a great deal of physical, mental, and magical power when capturing a Keyblade to prevent it from moving on and finding another who is worthy of carrying it and to bend its will to their command."

His questions used Dante stepped back and started conversing in low tones with Kira other possible questions, but the blond stepped forward to ask the questions foremost on his mind. "What happens if the Darkness wins?"

With a sigh the Chronicler took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes before replacing them and answering. Before he could speak he was interrupted by Dante practically yelling t the blond. "What are you thinking Damien? We have so many questions that we have to narrow them to the most useful, not ones that we could get the answers to just by opening our eyes!"

Kira gave him an amused, loving smile before mumbling something that sounded like 'stupid'. "Actually that was a more informed question than you give him credit for. As it has been asked I must answer. I answer this question because it will give you some grasp of what is at stake here. If the Darkness wins the Balance is lost and the worlds will be destroyed. All of them. And there are a great many more than the paltry few dozen that our people have visited."

"Then how do we stop this?" "Another well informed question. However it is one with many answers so I will only give the one that fits within the scope of your original question. Keyblades love their freedom, nearly as much as they love the person whom they choose. So long as even one Keyblade remains safely out of their control, free to choose its own way, then there is hope. Even now the True Keyblade," and here he gave a pause so subtle that it would have been easily missed as he fingered the hilt of the Heart of All, Kira noticed and a look of mixed horror and sadness crossed her features and was gone before anyone knew it was there, "..searches for its chosen. The one who shall be called the Keyblade Master. For the Keyblade Master will be able to call for the aid of every other Keyblade and Bearer to his or her cause and they would come willingly, and follow without question."


	4. Chapter 3: Give And Take

"But why is the Keyblade Master so special?" "I'm sorry, but you have already asked your questions. It is Kira's turn. Unfortunately we are out of time and I have a few gifts to bestow upon you before we part ways. Dante, your current blade is good, very good. But for the coming battles it isn't enough. This one will be more suited to your needs."

In Dante's left hand appeared a large golden Keyblade that looked like a two headed battle ax. In sparks of blue light the blade in his right hand compressed itself into its key chain which became attached to the golden blade's pommel. When the process was finished the name Defender of Light flowed through their minds. The blade was exceptionally light and Dante thought this was caused by the power of his former blade.

"Damien, the Kingdom Key is powerful and it still has a part to play in coming events. What I am about to give you comes in several parts. First, you are strong, strong enough to give up the Kingdom Key when the time comes, but not nearly strong enough for the other thing you must do when the time comes. So I grant you the strength to do what you must, when it is needed."

A pure yellow light flowed from the book on its chain and enveloped Damien, and from the look in his eyes it was working. He seemed much more confident and relaxed than he had a moment ago. "Since you will be giving your Keyblade to the future Bearers I grant you another to allow you to finish what you start once it is gone."

Soon he too had a golden Keyblade sporting a single ax like blade and a key chain shaped like a heart. Calling itself the Protector of Home it looked way too heavy for his scrawny arms, but he hefted it easily as though he had been carrying it for years. "And now for the final part of your gift. Hold out the Kingdom Key please." Reaching down the Chronicler grabbed a tiny piece of crystal that had been floating up towards his hand and gently freed it from the power binding it to the rest of the Heart of All. Placing the crystal shard upon the hilt of the Kingdom Key he stepped back as in a bright display of light the crystal was absorbed into the Keyblade.

"The Kingdom Key has been granted new power. Like the True Keyblade it can now use key chains to change its form and assume the power and abilities of the Keyblade the chain came from. This Keyblade will now learn from you until the time comes where you must part ways, and it will be able to teach future Keyblade Bearers the abilities it learns from you so that they will not be entering battle with no training at all."

Kira ran a hand across the blade and whispered, "It is a tremendous gift, take good care of it." "Kira." At the sound of her name she was shaken from her reverie and almost snapped to attention before realizing that she wasn't on the training ground. "There are a great many gifts that should be given to you by right. But they are not mine to give. First I give you time with one you love, one who knew that you thought you were doing good, and trying to help someone in pain."

He gingerly placed the Heart of All in her shaking grasp. The blade began to hum softly as she started crying, not caring that one of the crystals was cutting into her arm nor that her friends were staring at her in open mouthed surprise. As she cried into the hilt of the weapon he placed a peculiar pendant around her neck. It was like some kind of locket, the front face split in two as it lie open upon her chest. Inside was a clear, smooth crystal that lacked color or embellishment. "Isn't that a memory crystal?"

"Yes, Dante, it is. And it is good that you ask about the crystal rather than the Keyblade, for even if you still had a Question left to you I could not tell you. For that is a story that is best heard from those involved." Gently taking the blade back from Kira, who now had a light flow of blood running down her left arm from where the blade had cut her, he helped her to stand. "Kira, this Memory Locket I have put around your neck is set to activate if _you_ close it. It will remove and store your entire memory of this conversation, when the time is right and your mark of shame is removed the Locket will open and restore what it has taken from you, but activating its magic is up to you. The reason I tell you this is because it is part of the other gift I am allowed to give you."

"However the catch is, I am not allowed to tell you what the other gift is." Drying her eyes she looked into his sadly smiling visage as Damien bound her wound. "You will have the hardest part in coming events by far and the only shield I can give you is the bliss of ignorance. If you choose to close the locket you will not be able to join in the battle for along with your memory it will seal away your Keyblade as well. Now it is time for you to make your choice."

She brought out her Keyblade and planted it in the pavement at her feet. Reaching to the middle of the weapon where the two handles joined together she unclipped the key chains and attached them to her silver hoop earrings. Giving her head a slight shake to make them chime the Keyblade vanished into specks of silver light that quickly vanished into the key chains. They chimed a second time and a honeycombed barrier sprang up between them and a host of Neo-Shadows and Soldier Heartless that had just entered the other end of the alley.

"Kira?" Patting his arm she said, "Don't worry Dante." Damien grabbed her arm and she turned toward him. Hugging him tight she said, "Trust me, this won't be too bad, I will only forget the last five minutes or so. If in doing this I'll be able to atone for my past actions then I do this willingly." Stepping back from him she grabbed the Locket in her right hand and gently closed the front causing the engraved emblem to become complete and the runes of power to flash once before a keyhole shaped obsidian stone appeared on the front in the heart of the oddly Celtic knot work design surrounded by the runes that glowed from the memory crystal inside the Locket.


	5. Chapter 4: Entering The Castle

The effects of the crystal were immediate. Her eyes dulled and lost their focus for a moment. As the Locket removed her memory from the moment they entered the alley to when the Locket was closed she became a little unsteady. When the process was complete she collapsed into the Chronicler, who caught her easily. "Keep in mind young one, the Darkness by itself is not inherently evil. But to think that the light holds no fault would also be folly. There is a power within the Heart of Darkness that guides and twists the Darkness to its own evil ambitions. The Darkness will one day move to fix the wrongs it was forced into. Once her feet are set firmly upon the true path even the Chasers will have their match."

Picking her up as though she weighed nothing he gently handed her to Damien, a brief spark of energy transferring to her from his hands before he released her completely. To accentuate the point that it was time for them to go several dozen balls of flame struck the street outside the alley becoming a great wall of flame with numerous deafening explosions.

"There weren't that many registered magic users among the populace were there?" "Damien." "Yes Dante?" "Now is the time to shut up and run, not to discuss the apparently ill kept records of the census." "Quite right, lets go before these little freaks get us too."

They ran through the city for the next half hour avoiding fights where they could, but usually having to stop for a moment to clear a path through a number of the ever diversifying Heartless, though there appeared to be exceptionally few Nobodies about at this point.

They arrived at the main gate to the wall around the crater where the palace normally rested during the day. Every five feet around the wall were odd dome like structures in the brick work that were cunningly designed to rotate around and reveal a hidden weapons locker for city soldiers locked outside the wall in a crisis.

They were confronted by a fiery spike haired red head with liquid green eyes, a penchant for mischief and control over fire. "Well, if it isn't her royal sleepiness and her entourage of lunatics. What happened, run afoul of the Snoozers again?"

"This wasn't the work of a gang of unruly teens who refuse to accept the necessary training for their magical skills." "Oh, okay, I get it. You drank her under the table again didn't you, you sly dog." "Lea, this is no time for jokes, call for a light transport and get us up to the palace now. We must warn the Council that the Darkness is coming. If they don't do anything we'll have to go to the King himself!" Dante was practically shouting when he finished and Lea shrank back from him slightly.

"Yes Captain. Sentries, attention." The bulging domes along the perimeter of the wall rotated around revealing not only the weapons cashes held within but also statuesque gargoyle like security robots resting within. Thousands of blank armored face plates raised to catch the blue-silver sheen of the moonlight while the white light of their rhombus shaped eyes burned brightly in the night.

Dante grabbed the control interface magnetically attached to Lea's left armband and commanded the security machines, cutting Lea off in the process as he had not yet seen any of what was happening. "Sentries. Creatures of the Darkness are running loose and attacking the populace. Citizens are to be allowed through, but nothing of the Darkness is to breach the perimeter."

The control device beeped twice to indicate that the command was accepted. In each alcove the security robots reached up to the weapon racks above their heads and pulled down twin gunblades, turning on the wall's floodlights in the process.

The relative quiet around the wall was rent by the dissonant click-clack of a few hundred gunblade revolvers being cocked and readied to fire. The activation of the wall's lights seemed to be a signal of some sort as the riot which had left the palace compound and surrounding area untouched thus far broke the calm of the storm like the shattering of a dam in a flood.

The building nearest them straddling the street they had just exited shattered into fragments of masonry and slush as a giant crystalline structure of ice emerged from the rubble as several magic users combined Blizaga spells, momentarily trapping four Large Bodies so that a small group of people could make a run for the wall.

Lea hit a couple buttons on a wall panel near him before slapping a large red one marked: Emergency. Grated segments on the floor behind the wall rose to reveal ramps leading down to brightly lit well planned and designed emergency shelters. As the group passed the Sentries they were scanned by a faint green pulse and then ignored as they ran down the ramps, the first fifteen to reach safety.

Lea hit one more button and alarms began to ring out through the city to alert those who couldn't see the walls lights that the safety of the shelters awaited. The first Heartless came into the edge of the lit area and was scanned as the people had been. When the Sentries detected no form of identifying presence upon it alarms started going off within the palace compound as well. Before it could go any further one Sentry had taken aim and fired one of its gunblades returning the Shadow to the Darkness.

Powerful lights from within the crater turned on illuminating the bottom of the odd meteor like rock upon which the palace was built. An equal number of lights around the broken surface of the rock turned on filling the crater and the rim between it and the wall with a pure blinding white light as well.

There was a loud clang behind the group as an emergency lift hit the ground. They stepped upon the lift and several rings of energy rose up from the surface to surround them. Six more beams of energy connected the rings and came up to form a point above their heads and the combined beams shot up to a receiver far above. Because they had called for an emergency lift it sped up to the palace faster than was comfortable waking Kira in the process.

Damien gently lowered her to her feet, but since she was still unsteady didn't release her entirely. They reached the top with an uncomfortable bump and the receiver was pulled into the palace proper. Enormous gears upon either side of them turned ominously as they were pulled toward a dimly lit platform in the dark mechanical corridor and the opening in the wall was closed with a loud terrifying bang.


	6. Chapter5: Awkward Friends and Bad Timing

The lift came to a stop and lowered a foot and a half into its docking cradle at which point the energy walls dissipated and vanished. They stepped off the lift and the energy receiver, a black spiked crystal ball no bigger than a person's head, settled into place resting upon the center of the metal disk. They were about to approach the door when a wild 'yahoo' of amusement came from the barely lit mechanical confusion above them, followed shortly by a blond mullet haired teen that hit the platform a little too hard and too near the edge.

Quickly Lea grabbed him by the straps of his oil stained overalls and pulled him onto firm footing before he could fall. "Careful kid. I won't always be there to catch you." Dante looked at the boy sternly. "Dyme, one of these days you are going to get yourself into a situation that could get you killed if you don't start using your head."

"Well it's good to see you too Dante. Yeah that could have been bad, a hundred foot drop into the Eastern Drive Core would have been no fun. I misjudged my leap. But thankfully Lea was here to catch me." Still holding the straps of Dyme's overalls Lea shoved him toward the door and slapped him up side the head as well.

"Dyme, why did the palace get rotated anyway? We called for the lift from the main gate. Shouldn't the main entrance be pointed South to line up with the main gate?"

"Yes, well the king wished to watch the sunset from his rooms rather than the gardens this evening. He felt it would be a waste of the Guards' time tonight trying to lead him out of the maze. His rooms overlook the thing and he can't seem to find his way out from the inside. So, where are we going?"

"You are going to go get cleaned up monkey boy. _We_ are going to call the council." "Good luck with that. As I was going through the maintenance shafts I heard that some of them are rather unhappy." "Only some? Thanks for the warning, but they will all be unhappy and have to agree on something when we are done with them for the capital is under attack as we speak."

Finally looking around the small group to see who was there he noticed Kira's presence for the first time and nearly tripped over himself in his excitement. "Kira, ma'am. How are you feeling? You look a little unwell."

"I'll be fine. Lets just go, this Darkness is making me uneasy." As if to illustrate her point, somewhere nearby the unlit machinery gave a protracted metallic groan of protest. "Okay. All those in favor of getting the Hell out of here?" As one the group raised their hands and said 'I'.

Before any other strange noises or random events could come snaking their way out of the Darkness they went through the door. However they found themselves presented with a new set of problems on the other side.

They were on one side of a pit overlooking an artificially heated pool of lava, the ledge they were standing on barely large enough to hold a Volkswagen. While the small one person platform which was the only apparent way to get across and the leaver to activate it were on the other side of the pit. There was nothing to indicate another safe way across. The sound of enormous machinery coming to life filled the chamber as any number of fiendishly deceptive traps around the palace came to grim and fatalistic life.

The communicators on the group all chimed to indicate an incoming signal and the same voice, sounding a bit strange because of the five different sources within close proximity, came from each one. "Attention all residents and employees of the palace. An unknown force has entered the palace through the Northern Drive Core and has overrun the Arcane Tower. To prevent their spread through the entire palace all security points have been locked down."

They exchanged worried looks for this was news that could lead to someone's death, for the palace had been designed to keep its people safer than even the most heavily defended fortress could. "The entire security system has been brought on line and the puzzle based locks have been randomized. For those of you in the towers, I'm sorry but the safety of the King and Council was of utmost importance. May the Gods watch over your passage to the next life."

"Kira, do you think you could create a bridge across this?" Her earrings chiming darkly she shook her head as she answered. "My barriers make for excellent protective shields against attack or walls to create a sanctuary so that you could rest undisturbed. Trying to cross that on my barriers would be suicide. You wouldn't get more than a few steps before the magic stopped sensing you as a threat, because you would be walking away from me rather than trying to attack me."

"Well what about yourself, wouldn't the magic recognize the lava as a threat to you and keep you aloft?" "Dante, I just don't know. I have never tried to use the magic that way and I don't think this is the safest place or time to test it, just on the off chance that it fails."


	7. Chapter 6: Who Needs Indiana Jones

Damien stood staring at the Kingdom Key in his hand when the beginnings of an idea passed across his features. With a grin full of laughter and mischief he looked up and caught Dante's eye. "Oh no, what foolish ideas are you working over now?"

"Do you remember that kid a few days ago that was playing with a new toy he had created?" Widening his eyes in surprise and disbelief Dante hoped that Damien was not about to do what he just thought. "You mean that crooked stick he had carved from the wood of the wild Sunburst Rose?"

"That's it exactly, remember what he said?" Pointing an accusing finger at Damien and preparing to tackle him if he tried anything at all Dante spoke. "You mean the part about having to be careful about how he handled it so it wouldn't explode in his face?"

"Well there is that. But I meant the other part. Remember he said that the shape doesn't truly matter, only that what you are throwing is sufficiently flat and aerodynamic enough that when you throw it with the proper angle and spin it comes right back to your hand. Besides, its a Keyblade. No matter how they are designed part of the magic of a Keyblade makes it perfectly balanced and aerodynamic. And if I do it wrong I can always call it back to my hand."

To prove his words, in an over eager display he tossed the Keyblade over the edge and with a too dramatic wave of his hand brought it over his head and swing downward as if chopping wood. The Keyblade appeared in his grip at shoulder level.

He was so enthusiastic with his actions that the blade came within millimeters of cutting off the tip of Kira's nose. With practiced ease in a wavering motion that could have been confused with drunkenness she dodged back to avoid injury when a piece of the edge crumbled away under her foot causing her to fall.

About twenty feet down she somehow managed to finally grab onto something, a strangely placed pipe looping out of and back into the rock wall. She braced herself for the incoming impact with the stone as her weight and momentum continued to carry her downward as she got a firm hold of the pipe.

To her complete surprise and the utter astonishment of those above she went through the wall, her toes coming within a hair's breadth of hitting the lava. Her bathrobe, however, did not escape an encounter with the liquid stone.

The pipe broke free from the wall outside the secret room she found herself in and she landed after an acrobatic flip upon her feet on a solid, cold stone floor just within the room and had to tear off the remains of the now burning robe.

She dropped the pipe with a hollow clank and took stock of her surroundings. The room was shaped like a cross, the branches left and right decorated by stained glass windows depicting heroes recounted in tales kept within the palace library hiding treasured items of great value and function in similar rooms throughout the palace.

Strait ahead was an altar laid out with honors directed toward the Gods and a cast iron chest as big as her head placed in the center upon a royal blue felt cloth fraying from heat and age upon the grayish white almost marble looking stone. Upon the ground in the center of the room haphazardly placed as though accidentally dropped by someone in a great hurry was a very old cast iron key.

Thinking it entirely too easy and convenient she picked up the key and approached the chest. Just on a whimsical moment she tried the chest to be sure and the chest was locked. She tried the key and it fit, opening the lock easily.

Inside the chest were a curiously designed pair of gauntlets, a gold key, and an old yellowing parchment. She first picked up the parchment and opened the short letter penned in a script and dialect barely used even in their prime.


	8. Chapter 7: Clothes Befitting A Lady

The note wasn't very long. It gave a brief introduction to the brave soul who had left the contents of the chest, saying that he left the gauntlets and the key to the person who found the chest. It explained where and how to find the place where the key was used and told about the history and use of the gauntlets, which appeared to be named the Raptor's Claws.

She folded the note back up carefully and slipped it and the key into the bodice of her corset. She shivered as she grew cold, supposing that it was because she stood in a mostly unfurnished stone room wearing only her underwear. She grabbed the gauntlets from the chest and was startled when the cast iron disappeared into dozens of motes of yellow light and vanished as well within seconds.

She turned around as she slipped the gauntlets on, not really surprised to find that she could see through what from the other side had appeared to be a solid rock wall. The surprise came from the now frozen over lava and the twin half arches of ice trailing from the points where the pipe had connected to the wall to the now ice covered floor. Upon seeing this she was glad for the shoes she wore, which were only a little blackened from their near encounter with disaster.

There was a loud crack as the ice began to show the strain of trying to keep the heat contained. From this angle she was able to see a series of small ledges set into the wall on the other side of the ice. Figuring she didn't have much time and not wanting to get stuck in the pit she ran across the ice, sliding a bit on the slick surface, and started to climb. Seeing that she was safe and that she was returning to the top Dante called out to her. "Kira, what happened, are you alright?"

"I'm quite alright thank you. I'll be up and have the platform moving for you in just a moment." True to her word she had reached the top in less than a minute, but before she could grasp the handle of the leaver there was a series of sharp retorts and a grinding rumble from below. A great cloud of steam and a few launched globs of lava came shooting out of the pit and Lea and Dante had to move out of the way to avoid being hit as the molten stone came back down.

When the steam cleared Kira grabbed the leaver and pulling the locking bar pushed it toward the other side. Just below the edge of the platform upon which she stood a segment of the wall slid out and then downward, revealing two holes in the wall. On the other side of the pit directly opposite another section of wall slid open as well revealing another set of holes. Bars as thick as her legs extended from their storage racks beneath her feet until they locked into place, plugged into the holes beneath her friends' feet. The platform began its slow journey across the pit and she looked to her friends.

What she saw on the other side of the pit made her uncomfortably aware that the men were not ignorant of her lack of dress. Out of respect Dante had turned away to avert his gaze. Damien had placed a hand over Lea's eyes while he studiously looked elsewhere. Lea's jaw had dropped open until Dyme had shut his mouth. And as for Dyme himself, he had taken the time at some point to take off his overalls, showing that he had worn a pair of tastelessly yellow shorts underneath and was watching the platform as if it were the only thing that mattered at the moment. He was the first one to ride it across.

When Dyme reached her side of the pit, blushing an entertaining fire engine red, he handed Kira his overalls while still not looking directly in her direction. "My Lady, it would not do for you to take ill before we reach the Council for want of proper clothing. While I realize it isn't proper attire it is all I have to offer. And I'm sure you would be more comfortable traveling through this stupid tower more suitably clothed."

With a tight hug she kissed him on the forehead causing him to turn an even more interesting shade of scarlet. "Thank you Dyme, you are such a gentleman." At this moment Lea stepped off the platform. "You mean such a kiss ass." She slapped him lightly on the shoulder causing him to wince in pain before squeezing herself into the overalls, which were a few sizes too small for her. Allowing the tight, uncompromising material to do some very interesting things to her figure. "It's a good thing I'm not more endowed, or I wouldn't be able to wear this at all. At least it doesn't restrict breathing, or motion too terribly much."

With a wicked gleam in his emerald eyes and still rubbing his shoulder Lea spoke. "Yeah, and it makes your already interesting curves a lot more fun to look at." This earned him a glare from her and Damien's hand around the scruff of his neck. "That is quite enough of that Lea. Or you will shortly find yourself exploring the bottom of the next hole."

With an audible gulp and a nervous laugh Lea answered. "Sure man. No worries. I'm a perfect gentleman." Dante gave a derisive snort. "I'll believe that the day I see it. How many women have shot you down this month?" Dyme interrupted the brewing argument before it truly started. "Guys, come on. This is neither the time nor the place. We still have to get past the palace defenses and Kira has already gone on."


	9. Chapter 8 Knight of Fear

The night air in the center of the park parted and two ominous figures stepped from the Darkness. The wicked gleam and terrifying smile upon the face of 'The Monster' had not disappeared and if anything he looked even more pleased than before.

The alarms and calls to evacuate that were spreading in a quickening ring outward from the castle hadn't reached this city yet so what was coming was going to take them completely by surprise, which he felt was a good thing for he knew that the last place he was to visit this night would be forewarned.

Six orbs of black flame sprang up around him like dark will-o-wisps. For a moment the balls of Dark power hovered in a circle around him doing nothing more than casting an eerie not-light upon his features. He raised his right hand pointing north and snapped his fingers. One of the orbs turned into a Neo-Shadow and melted into the ground, a pool of Darkness that quickly moved in the indicated direction. He quickly repeated this process for the other four directions then pointed to a large building at the edge of the park that bore a sign naming it the Institute of Heart.

One of the two remaining orbs sped off to the building and struck the brick wall with no apparent effect for a heartbeat. A split second later there was a deafening thunderous roar and the ground trembled as the building was devastated by an explosion powerful enough to level a city block in a fan shaped swath of destruction past the point of impact. Only two corners of the building were left standing in flames black as space.

"Ash, find the one guarding your sister, kill anyone who gets in your way. Bring your sister here so that she too could be free." The armored figure bowed gracefully and her voice, tinged by Dark amusement, rang out from behind the face shield of her helmet. "As you wish master, I shall bring her to you."

Disappearing more quickly and effectively than a ninja Ash rushed off to her task. He inhaled the scent of the chaos he had caused and smiled, pleased with the trouble he was causing this night which would hopefully be long remembered by the survivors as the end of the Light.

A couple Large Body Heartless lumbered past him, completely ignoring his presence, with the single minded determination to find more hearts to consume. His final remaining orb placed itself above his head and began to absorb the night gaining in power as it did so.

He was content to stand there and wait as long as required for Ash to return to him. He however was not ready for the sight that greeted him when she did. She held her helmet in her left hand and balanced fearfully on her right hip, held in a vice like grip that could easily have crushed her bones, was a child of three years of age.

Not a sound came from the child even though the city she knew as her home was quickly falling to chaos and discord. With surprisingly strong fingers she gripped the edge of Ash's armor where the helmet was to lock into place. Her quick, intelligent and curious eyes seemed to take in her entire surroundings in a single glance and assured that nothing was coming for her immediately she studied the man she was being brought before.

Ash stopped before her master and waited, knowing that all too soon she would be allowed to embark upon the mission burning through her blood. The unlight of the orb cast a sickly purple gleam upon his forehead as he leaned toward the child to examine her. "Such interesting purple eyes she has. Pity one so young must be forced to bear such a terrible burden. Shall we set you free little one?"

In a movement so fast that even Ash barely saw it he shoved his hand through the girl's chest, causing no physical damage, and tore her heart out. Slowly she blinked once before a Dark fog enshrouded her and covered half of Ash's body as well. The heart floated up to join with the others combining with Kingdom Hearts and the wind blew the fog apart in wisps of foul blackness.

Ash promptly dropped the Neo-Shadow that had appeared in her arms staring unnervingly at her with its still oddly purple eyes. Standing next to a shapeless fleshy lump upon the ground was a Nobody strong enough to retain its human form, though the three year old child it resembled still made no sound. It was clad in a black cloak that covered it from neck to toes and the child promptly drew the hood, covering the upper half of its face in shadow so that only the gleam of the Darklight off her purple eyes could be seen.

The long sleeves of her cloak were tight to her arms until they met her elbows, at which point they grew large enough to swallow a basketball. The child brought her hands together before her, causing the unusually large sleeves to droop like a monk's robes off her hands which remained completely covered.

The figure on the ground rose up a little with a groan and shook her head. She, like Ash, was completely nude, yet she had a full head of hair that ran in black and purple streaks down her back. Her eyes were molten stone as she rose to her feet, displaying the dancers curves of her body. As she stood the black fog enveloped her forming her armor before she had gained her full height.

"Master, I am Cinder, Harbinger of Destruction. Once again I am free. And once again I _know_. Locked alone in the light of a child's heart for too long has left me bereft of the power and communion that are our birthright."

No transition could have shown how it happened, one second she was unarmed and a blink of an eye later she held two Keyblades that matched the coloring of her hair and seemed more at home in a torture chamber than in the middle of a cheerful city park. The names Bonesplitter and Shrieker almost whispered upon the night air to cause shivers to run down the spine of anybody sane who could have heard it.

"Come Ladies, let us find your brother, and now we have a retainer to care for our needs as well. Aren't we becoming quite the family here?" A portal of Darkness opened before them and he allowed them to proceed him in. As the Neo-Shadow and the Nobody entered the portal he looked to the stars.

"This night is easy, almost too easy. Complications are bound to arise and we shall be ready when they do, though I can't help but feel that there are forces even now working to balance what goes on tonight." He too entered the portal and it was gone, the energy used to keep it open sucked into the orb of black fire which had now changed to a deep purple.

The orb flew up three hundred feet into the sky and like a comet streaked toward the ground gradually changing colors back to pure black as it did so. When it struck the ground it released all the power it had gathered in a devastating blast of Dark nuclear fire that erased the city and all of its citizens who had not managed to escape from the face of the world, the ruined stone landscape and the hundreds of Heartless roaming restlessly through the blasted rocks all that remained.

Somewhere far away a lone figure sitting upon a throne of pure Darkness enshrouded by shadow smiled, nearly blue lips from either cold or lack of breathing almost cracking from the unfamiliar activity. There was nothing to see but the lower half of the face and the gray hands resting upon the throne.

One of the hands lifted a little and formed into a slow fist. A dry whisper that sounded more cruel and evil than even the Monster's voice sounded in the apparently vast, empty chamber echoing through the space as though shouted.

The 's' sound of the voice seemed oddly drawn out like the hissing of snakes but it still spoke clearly enough to be understood. "Yes. This impertinent child race. Crush them before you. Let us that were before come to rule again."


	10. Chapter 9:Who Ordered The Walking Carpet

They had to come to a sudden halt at the edge of a steep drop. The walls of the hall behind them met with noisy results that could just as easily have been messy as well if they had not run. They found themselves in a room they felt was roughly the size of Disney Castle.

They didn't know what was below for they could not see the bottom of the room, but they could see their exit was near the top of the room fully a hundred and fifty feet above them, the only path between their point of entry and their exit were the ungodly number of gears and mechanical abominations running the space of the room.

Just beneath the ledge upon which they stood they could see a half exposed gear slowly spinning over the chasm and extending the size of their small landing. Every three teeth of the gear held a small, almost unnoticeable emblem was engraved into the rusted iron of the metal. It looked like the head of a bear within a circle with a G imprinted in the center.

Hovering above the drop directly opposite the door was a faint shimmer of microscopic star like pinpricks of light but what it could be they couldn't tell. It seemed to become more substantial and visible as the odd emblems passed by it.

There was a gruff voice from behind them and they turned to see its source. Standing next to the door was a small blue furred bear wearing a tool belt and mechanical repair kit. A pair of blue shorts and a knitted blue shirt with darker blue hearts rounded out his outfit.

"Well, what are you waiting for? The safest way to get from here to the exit is to use the Gummi Gate. Unless you'd prefer to climb the Tower mechanism? What? Is there something stuck in my fur? Come on, I do suggest we hurry. These traps are becoming more determined, and dangerous as time passes. I say we have about another twenty minutes before the Security Guidance Computer starts setting off multiple traps at any given time. My name's Tinker, Gummi inventor and mechanic. I know Dyme already. The rest of you I only know from a distance, but that doesn't mean that we can't be friends."

Tinker stepped onto one of the marked teeth of the gear and rode it around to the sparkling shimmer of air and stepped into it. Rather than falling he vanished, and appeared less than a second later on a matching gear a short jump from the exit door.

Dyme sat upon the next marked tooth and leaned back and through the gate when he reached it, a pleasantly annoying smile pasted on his face the entire time. Kira went next and when she stepped through the gate she found his grin planted squarely in a place she would gladly have broken a few of his bones for if the situation had been anywhere near normal.

"Dyme, if I were a man I'd already be speaking soprano from the fit of the clothes you so kindly loaned me. If not for the fact that I like you, and occasionally think of you as a kid brother," he dramatically held a hand up to his heart and put a pained expression on his face, "I'd already have broken your nose for this. Now I really strongly suggest you back off before I find someone willing to help me cut off something very dear to you."

Dante appeared on the opposite end of the gear and raising an eyebrow in semi-mock irritation, he spoke. "And she won't have to look very hard either. So move before Damien sees this. You know how he'll react." Dyme moved and Tinker snorted in wry amusement as he jumped across the small gap. "Humans. And people think we Gummi are strange."

Damien appeared and seeing the looks upon his friends faces and Dyme almost cowering upon the ground spoke up in confusion. "Did I miss something? Guys, now isn't the time to playfully pick on the kid, we have to get out of here if we wish to live through the night, the Gummi is right, we don't want to stick around when the big traps start going off. And the Endgame traps only trip after six hours have passed and there are still intruders detected within the towers. Personally I have sworn never to see them again after helping to reset a few of them during that security exercise last year. And that was on the other end of them."

Dante and Kira looked at each other solemnly and swallowed hard. With the barest nod both turned sharply and grabbing Dyme under an arm each they lifted him and tossed him across the gap. "Gentlemen, it has been decided that for the safety, and sanity of the group, we needs must make haste and escape this Tower as quickly as humanly, or Gummi(ly) possible." Damien couldn't help his burst of sarcasm. "So glad we didn't have to wait months for that to be discussed in committee." Dante slapped him up side the head as Kira jumped over to the door.

Finding that the door was locked she grabbed the door as best she could and using the strength imparted by the gauntlets pulled the door off its hinges and tossed it into the pit. "Door's open, we waiting for an invitation or are we going?" Tinker tapped his foot impatiently. "Invitations are in short supply, lets just crash the party."

Dante looked pointedly at Dyme. "Kira, seeing as how you went first last time, I think the kid should go first this time, it should prove ample opportunity for him to keep out of trouble." Lea, who had been silent for most of the last hour spoke up then. "I wholeheartedly agree, he has caused enough trouble for one hour and now he must work to make up for it." Kira feigned fainting. "Dear Light, he has a whole heart? What are the worlds coming to?" He stuck his tongue out at her and shoved Dyme through the doorway beyond which they thought they could see the darkness of late night outside. The group followed him more or less quickly hoping to avoid any unexpectedly deadly surprises.


	11. Chapter 10: TiggerDoesBest,BearsDoBetter

**I apologize for the length of the delay in the release of this chapter, I had a hard time getting back online after moving into a new apartment. Thank you for your patience. This chapter was fun to visualize and I hope you enjoy the perversion of the Castlevania games I twisted to my own ends :).**

At the top of the stairs they found a soldier resting against the crenelated wall next to the door. His blackened and smoking armor was partially melted, dented and scored from his climb up the Room of Gears the hard way. They could smell cooked meat and when he turned to look at them they couldn't figure out how he had survived so long. A good eighty percent of his face looked like somebody had held his head in a pot of boiling water. His goldish hair was burned and missing in patches and his left eye was burst and shriveled like a raisin crushed between one's fingers.

"Be careful, you'll never know what this place will throw at you next. I was jumping from one gear to the next when an enormous cloud of steam came up from below and caught me." Dyme spoke without thinking about it. "We should have known that steam wasn't so easily forgotten when we avoided it."

Damien elbowed him painfully in the ribs. "Ouch man, would you people quit doing that to me already?" Dante pulled a small crystal with the word Curaga engraved upon it out of his pouch and knelt before the soldier. "Can we at least cure you and get you back on your feet?"

"Don't waste your magic. I can feel it. I'm dead already. My heart just hasn't had the sense to stop yet. Besides with the way the security system is acting you'll need all of your healing spells and items for your own survival. Captain, I beg you, don't let the lady die here. It would be a severe injustice and I would be unable to enjoy my next life."

Faintly from the distance below they could hear the tiny crack of the faraway gunshots of the Gunblades carried by the security robots. Nearer at hand they could hear the jarringly discordant sounds of the armored feet of Soldier Heartless climbing the Room of Gears. The palace traps were, by their very nature, deadly to an invading force of living flesh. But the companions exchanged worried glances for they did not know if such things could stop creatures composed of the Darkness itself.

"Leave me. It will be a soldiers death, for in this condition they will not be able to take my heart. Farewell friends. May you survive long enough to teach these bastards a lesson they'll never forget. Me, I just hope to give them enough pause for them to hesitate to attack anybody again, or at least sit still long enough for them to learn their lessons from you in that regard."

Dante put the crystal away and stood. Stepping back he and Damien saluted the soldier about to make his last stand. Kira bowed to him out of respect causing tears of some unknown emotion to spring to his eyes. Dyme, not really knowing what to do, shuffled his feet and tried to be unobtrusive to the moment.

Tinker held out a small glass bottle stamped with the Gummi seal and filled with a dark ruby liquid which the soldier gratefully accepted. "Gummi Berri Juice. Its magic works differently and for different amounts of time for different creatures. But it gives humans strength, and a limited ability to bounce like the Gummi, for a few minutes. Maybe that few minutes will be enough for us to get the Lady Kira safely out of their reach." The soldier nodded solemnly to Tinker and stood as they entered the door. As the door closed they heard the tinkle of breaking glass and the soldier's final wordless challenge to a powerful and respected enemy.

They found themselves upon the threshold of an open bridge. It was wide enough that they need not worry about falling off the sides, but the traps were decidedly more troublesome. Parts of the bridge would flip over to cause whoever was standing atop them to drop into the abyss below. Assuring their deaths no matter what room they stopped in on the way down.

Other panels of the bridge would open up quite suddenly to reveal a short drop onto a strategically hung grating covered in jagged, dull blades and rusty bladed spikes. A few of these held grim tokens to their effectiveness though the old, rusted chains from which they hung seemed ready to break.

There were several apparently safe sections of the bridge but a few of these were questionable or suspect at best. No traps lined the walls and the floors didn't move to drop people to their deaths. But from the multiple grooves in the floor of a couple of these sections they weren't as safe as they seemed.

Walls hung from the ceiling above making the room into a rectangle rather than the open cylinder they had been dealing with thus far. And looking up provided clues the the damaged stonework of the bridge directly in front of them as they could see a precariously hung object that could only be described as a giant meat tenderizer. But the walls also made possible other insidious traps.

Along the walls between the opening and rotating sections of the bridge were either a series of randomly placed round holes or one to three vertical openings that could have hidden quite a few nasty surprises.

"Wow. This is nice. I want to get married in this room." Everybody looked at Dyme like he had finally lost what little sanity he possessed. Raising his hands in defeat he grinned in embarrassment. "Okay. I get it. Shutting up now."

Kira, knowing that the Gummi were legendary for keeping secrets, gently asked. "Tinker, are there any Gummi shortcuts through here?" Tinker stood in silence for a long moment sizing her up. Then apparently deciding he could trust her he finally spoke. "No. back home we have entire schools filled with rooms like this to train young Gummi to control their bounce. Please allow me to go first. I stand the greater chance of getting through unharmed and tripping the most traps while I do it. This way you will see how they are laid out so you can plan a way through for yourselves."

Seeing no objections forthcoming he turned to face the bridge and pulling another bottle of Gummi Berry Juice from his pouch planned the angle of his first bounce. He downed the bottle's contents and tossed it over the side of the bridge. He took one step forward and finished the move in a ten foot bounce with an odd muffled 'boing' which got him out of the way of the falling trap and placed him directly in front of the first set of holes in the wall.

He bounced again as the holes launched arrows at him with the audible twang of multiple old bow strings. There were also a few snaps as the aging trap systems were stressed beyond their worn down limits and a few of the crossbows broke under the strain of being reloaded.

He landed on a section of bridge which promptly spun and slapped him toward the left wall, which he bounced off of to hit the swinging wooden shaft of a bladed pendulum that sent him soaring over a pit that opened upon a set of spikes, even as the rotting wood of the pendulum shattered dropping the blade with a loud clatter to the ground.

No sooner had he landed on the far side of the pitfall than six circular saw blades emerged from the grooves in the floor and began moving from one end of their track to the other. The party of friends could hear the metallic grinding of the blades even from where they stood, which showed that the blades were no longer true to their tracks and the occasional sparks said that the traps were malfunctioning, and the blades were likely dull and rusted as well.

He bounced over the blades and through a field of arrows that launched as he passed through to land on another piece of the bridge that dropped away as he stood upon it. He bounced up and nearly avoided a ghostly grasping hand that came up from the hole and tried to drag him into the spiked pit. He broke free of its grasp and bounced through the final trap by a close margin, three inopportunely timed pendulums swinging so closely together that small sparks flew as they ground together.

About ten minutes later Kira stood at the final trap waiting, when all three of the pendulums were at the furthest point of their arch she stepped between them and jangled her earrings, creating a shield arch around her that prevented the blades from approaching while allowing her friends to walk through unscathed.

As they passed the final traps Dante released the magic keeping the ice across the holes in the walls in place. Since they had made it through they didn't really need to prevent the crossbows from firing upon them any more. The only tricky part had come when Damien had been knocked into one of the slicked walls by a trap that Tinker had been too small to set off. A stone disk on a giant spring had broken through the ice from the right and smacked into him, if not for his Keyblade he would have fallen. As it was he had been lucky not to have been injured by the uneven frozen sheet on the wall.

With them all on this side of the bridge they felt that it was time to move on once again.


	12. Chapter 11: New Arrivals

The last few steps of the long spiral staircase crumbled away as they reached the top, the floor just beneath the roof and the hopefully newly opened path to the central tower. Kira caught Tinker by the scruff of the neck before he could fall with the stone debris and found herself at the heart of, all puns aside, a suffocating bear hug.

"Your welcome. Now, a little breathing room please, hard enough to come by in these clothes as it is." She put him on the ground and then looked back at the opening in the wall when they all heard a strange high pitched whine followed by a dragon's roar of light and flame. Damien quickly moved Kira out of the way and pulled the new arrival into the questionable safety of the hallway when the rockets built into his armor cut off.

Straitening his armor and pulling himself into a proper and refined erect position he looked at the group he had startled with his appearance. "Gracious. I had not been aware of others unfortunate enough to be stuck within these demesnes at this frightful hour as well. My lady, I apologize for giving you a fright, with those stairs gone my armor was of course the only way to ascend to these heights. I am Sir Cumulus of the Order of the Crystal Sun of the Rocket Knights. You all of course may call me by my given name of George."

He opened the face plate of his helmet to reveal an aged, careworn face that had seen decades of sun and combat. Though his hair and mustaches were still a vibrant dark brown as though age had no power to worry him beyond a few wrinkles. The bright, humorous twinkle in his gray eyes was only matched by the warmth of his smile.

"Sir Cumulus, it is good to see that our guests are able to enjoy our hospitality here in the heart of the Kingdom, and I am glad that you were able to get yourself safely this far in an emergency. I am sorry that you had to be delayed upon your return to your Order." With a courtly bow he answered. "Nonsense my dear lady. This reminds me of my days of training. I haven't had this much fun in years. Oh, I found this on my way up, if any of you has a key that can open it, you can keep it."

George reached into the backpack he carried away from the rockets on his armor and pulled out a curiously decorated gold chest. Its body and polished gold lock were simple, bare metal while the lid was graced by the symbolic imagery of a glaive, not the pole arm generally associated with the term but a three bladed open disk like a chakram that if used properly can either embed itself in a target or come back to its user like a boomerang. It was also covered in a great deal of dust and small debris and rubble from whatever crumbling hole George had pulled it from.

"Well sir knight, you are welcome to join us. The more of our people we can get safely out of range of our own traps, the better. I would not want any good people of any race to die by the very devices set to protect them." He bowed respectfully to her and held out the chest invitingly.

"Don't worry, I'll pop that pesky lock for you." Damien tried to put actions to words by aiming his Keyblade at the lock. A small beam of blinding white light shot forth from the end of the key and fragmented when it hit a multifaceted honeycomb shaped energy barrier just above the lock. He frowned in discontent but stepped aside so that Dante could try. Dante fared no better except for the light show at the end as the sparks burst into minuscule fireworks of rainbow colors. "What's the deal with that?"

"When obvious won't work try subtle." Dyme pulled a pair of sturdy stainless steel lock picks out of his tool belt but Tinker slapped him before he could even try. "Foolish child. Even if you were to manage to slip those past that barrier gold is far too soft for anything other than the proper key. You would end up bending or breaking the internal mechanism with those."

"Boys and their toys. If subtle hadn't worked what would you have tried next? Brute force? No, I think not. Not this time. This is obviously a Forgebound lock. Only the proper key will open it. It is an old and powerful magic that even a Keyblade cannot penetrate. Allow me to demonstrate."

She pulled the key from her hiding place, under the watchful eye of the men and fit it to the lock. The barrier appeared, flashed and shattered like a stained glass window. The key went in and turned as it was meant to.

The chest opened. Inside was a belt that seemed to be part of a set with the gauntlets as it was made of the same Dragon's hide and had the same odd bits of metal and glowing crystal like that of the Heart of All. Set within the metal buckle was a crystal shaped like a fixed three bladed glaive.

With the belt was a platinum key and another letter. She pulled all three items from the chest, and prepared for it this time only laughed when the chest disappeared startling the rest of the party. She read through the letter noting that it was written in the same mode as the previous one though the author of this one seemed an artist with a pen.

It seemed that the Spectral Glaive, as the weapon on the belt was named, was sentient and like a Keyblade, chose its master. However unlike a Keyblade the Glaive could run in a family line for generations before finding someone else worthy of its use. The letter also stated that the only way to learn its full ability, and even to use it, one had to be chosen by it.

"Well, as interesting as that is," Kira began as she carressed the softly glowing crystal as she buckled on the belt. "How does one know if one has been chosen by the Glaive?" Looking about she could see that none of them had any ideas as to how this was done either. Damien stood scratching the back of his head with both hands. Dante just shrugged and looked at his feet. George seemed deep in thought. And then there was Dyme, he just looked completely blank. As for Tinker, he was taking a moment to examine the belt and the gauntlets for the first time.

"Hmmm. Very interesting. Shadow Dragon hide, armored Moonsilver plates and I have no idea what kind of crystal this is, but it looks very rare." Tinker jumped back in alarm when the crystal flashed and a Glaive, about as big around as a bowling ball rather than the golf ball sized one set into the belt buckle, appeared floating in the air before Kira spinning slowly like a miniature galaxy.

A strangely echoing female voice sounded, not in their ears, but in their minds proving the weapons sentience and its telepathic ability. "I find you worthy Kira. For centuries uncounted I have lain in wait in that box. We are now connected mind to mind and normally I would speak to you alone but your friends need some explanation as well. How fortunate it is that the one who released me from my solitude is also the very person worthy of me. Honor will be served admirably with us working together. I sense a purpose for you, and I shall of course join with you to fulfill it. All you need do is take me up in your hand and our joining will be complete."

Kira reached out a little nervously with her right hand and grabbed the Glaive around the middle. A burst of power nearly knocked them all from their feet and set off an ominous rumble from the hallway around them. There was a flash from the crystal in her hand and the Glaive disappeared, leaving behind a mark in its shape on the palm of her hand. "Okay, on that note, who votes for moving on?"

"Quite right my lady, enough of this tower, let us take our leave. No offense to you of course, but being the only one in armor here I shall go first as I stand the greater chance of surviving further traps."


	13. Chapter 12: Small Diversions

A little way down the hallway they came to a halt for a brief rest, not only because of the apparently impassable chasm ahead leading to a curve in the hall, but because of the trap they had just escaped that turned a game of Jacks into a lethal experience and to tend the shrapnel wounds Kira had suffered from the small explosions.

"Are you alright my lady?" "Yes George, thank you. You did manage to protect me from the worst of it and for that I am grateful. Ouch! Dante, be careful, those little shards have barbs on them."

"Sorry Kira, but with these we have only three options and each one is painful. Let them explode, ending the problem and your life in the same motion. Quickly and painfully tearing them out and causing more damage to your flesh, which would not be looked upon favorably by your family or your family's healer. Or easing them out individually slowly and painfully but causing the least amount of damage to anybody within ten feet of these nasties."

"Alright, do it. Damien, I need something to distract me, could you tell me one of your stories?" He looked at her as if studying her to determine whether he could do what she asked safely. "All I can think of to distract you isn't a story that can be told, but something that can be experienced and felt. Something that will hopefully be remembered favorably after this crisis."

Dante wiped sweat and hair out of his eyes and continued to gently pry the spiked balls out of Kira's back as quickly as he dared and threw each one over the edge of the pit to release small cracks and pops as they exploded when hitting objects down below. Damien stood before her, his blue eyes locked upon hers. His spiked hair made him look taller than her. Now that he stood this close to her, could smell the remnants of her light perfume, he grew absurdly afraid of taking the small liberty she had inadvertently granted permission for. Steeling his resolve before he could give up and damage his image in her eyes he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her gently, deeply and with no urgency.

With a small chuckle Tinker spoke quietly to George. "Now _that_ is a distraction. It is about time too. He's been wanting to do that for a long time. It is the humble opinion of this Gummi that they make a good couple. I just hope that her family sees it that way. But I see no problems, he is a knight, and you would be hard pressed to find someone better suited than a knight to marry that girl."

"Indeed. Knights have virtue, honor, wisdom, respect and chivalry on their side. And most are loyal and truthful as well. Her family should count themselves lucky were he to ask her hand in marriage."

Dante put a reassuring hand on Kira's shoulder as he pulled the last one free from between her shoulder blades. This one, having penetrated deeper than the others caused a pained gasp to force itself out of her into the kiss. Only then did Damien break it off, though he still held her close. Dante used a small Cure spell on Kira to seal up the holes in her back.

She nodded to him gratefully and because he hadn't released her yet was forced to take Damien with her as she leaned against the closest wall. To everybody's surprise, once she had settled most of her weight upon the wall it flipped back, putting the two of them on a slide to who knew where. Once they were clear the wall silently rotated back into position then they heard it lock into place, not to be moved again.

They landed in a heap at the bottom of the slide. Damien landed first taking the full force of the collision and loosing consciousness for a few minutes. When he came to he found his head softly cradled in Kira's lap. Her slippers, which were now thoroughly ruined, had been replaced by a pair of boots.

The boots inexplicably matched the gauntlets and the belt, and of course all three had apparently been left behind by different heroes after different adventures in which they found the equipment useful. The man who had left the boots behind didn't know their name, nor indeed if they even had one and used the same dialect used in those other letters to leave them to the one who found them in a time of need. They were cunningly crafted and a lot lighter than they looked, weighing only a couple pounds total when they looked like they should weigh about twenty pounds each. Spiked plates of an unknown metal armor, which he remembered that Tinker had called Moonsilver whatever that was, were attached to supple yet hardened Dragon hide in such a clever way that nobody could figure out how it had been done. The chrome sheen of the metal plates, though each only as big around as a silver dollar and about as thick, seemed to intensify the colors in the scales of the Dragon's hide showing that there was blue, silver, and a very light shade of pink mixed with the black, giving it the odd slick rainbow effect of a pool of oil.

Her hair had been pulled loose from its binds and now tickled his nose. "Welcome back sleepy. Perhaps now isn't the time to tell you this but our path back to our friends is gone. The slide we came down lowered and the room rotated, pointing the door in the same direction the hallway had been going. Now there is some sort of weird tunnel out there that seems organic."


	14. Chapter 13: Madness and Light

**For those of you who have enjoyed my story and have been very patiently awaiting more, I apologize for the length of my absence, being extremely busy coupled with writers block has delayed me, but I hope to be a little more active now.**

In another city not too far from the capital stood a skyscraper used to house those of ill temperament and fallow sanity. A Dark Portal opened in the center of the hallway eight floors from the top and the seven floors above collapsed in upon themselves from the sudden change in air pressure.

A shotgun like blast of fragments of black ice shot out of the portal and opened a hole in the wall and the two Chasers emerged and took up positions on either side of the hole inside the room. They aimed their Keyblades at the room's sole occupant. His feral smile and dead eyes grim testament to the fact that his unwanted passenger had on numerous occasions exerted power and control over its unwilling host.

"Well ladies, it appears to me that your brother has been quite actively against his imprisonment. Shall we grant his wish and cast him free?" There was a tortured scream of terror and anguish from down the hall and a mad cackle from the man whose solitude they had broken as surely as the wall of his cell.

"Set me free or leave me be, it matters naught. Death would be preferable to this torment, yet I know that if you get your way which I cannot prevent I'd be doomed to a far more cursed existence. I can't deny you, oh no, for the one with the strength for that has not come yet. But I defy you. Yes, that at least I can do."

With another insane laugh he lifted his shirt, which he had thus far held carefully away from his chest to reveal a hole carved out of his flesh by the debris of the wall when they had blasted it open. Just visible in his damaged chest was a quivering lump that was the remains of his failing heart. "Quickly now or you'll lose your prize."

Elsewhere, so close at hand that it was a wonder that none knew of the location's existence, there was a chamber filled with light. A woman so old that it was a wonder she still lived sat upon a chair of carven wood. She was clothed in a simple cloak radiantly composed of light that shone in all colors and none.

This crone cackled mirthlessly and without pity. "Petty children squabbling over borrowed time on a handful of worlds that were never theirs. Nearly all the pawns are in play now and soon the board shall be swept clean once again."


	15. Chapter 14: Divergent Recollections

Having now gotten to his feet he became curious and moved to the door to look out. Sure enough he saw the tunnel and was slightly confused for it appeared to be larger than the room in which they stood. The walls, floor and ceiling seemed to quiver and pulse like the inside of some giant artery and looked like they were composed of the decaying flesh of some diseased beast.

Strange creatures that could have been either very small or far away shambled across a bleak and barren landscape below his vantage and a rotting city slumped in ruin some distance down the tunnel disappearing into the darkness in the distance and climbing the walls without concern for the laws of nature. The city's beauty and mystery were marred by the disaster that befell its once great majesty.

His eyes widened in recognition, shock, and fear as he realized what he was seeing. For though he had never before seen it for himself he had heard of this place and knew he was looking at the result of directed malicious evil.

"By the Light! We shouldn't be here, no good can come from this place. Not now. He was right, how foolish I was to disbelieve. He was right and I should have listened. We need to get out of here now!" Kira came up to his side and wrapped her arm around his waist. "What's wrong? What is out there that has you so scared?"

In vague answer he waved his arm taking most of the scene in that gesture. When she still seemed confused he elaborated. "This is the Place Between Places. There climbing the walls is the lost city Kriis'Tal Tor. Beyond it is the Dark Path. It will take us anywhere any time we wish to go, but if we are caught by any of those creatures, we will be killed. Then there is the Path itself, it has the unfortunate habit of corrupting those who travel it."

She was intrigued and curious now. The way he had pronounced it had him rolling the first 'r' for a second and she could never remember him doing that before in any conversation. "How is it that you don't roll your r's while speaking except to say that one name?" "It is part of the power of this place, you cannot mispronounce the name no matter how hard you try. Give it a try yourself if you like."

"No thank you. What is with those glowing clouds out there?" As if to provide illustration to her question three of the clouds stopped their odd dance right outside the doorway. One was a bright amethyst, another was pure silver and the third was an unadorned white. "The amethyst is the Power of Creation, Silver is Pure Chaos, and the White is Wild Magic. This place flows with such powers though they are more common and plentifully seen within the city itself, from what I hear."

"That is truly interesting but I would like a way back to our friends." As they stood there watching a wall rotated into view a short distance away, where before there had been nothing. A series of hexagonal flagstones as large as hubcaps, free floating and with at least an inch of open space between them, spun into existence marking off a path from their room to the blank wall. A square section of the wall slid out toward them and then to the left, showing what was unmistakably the hallway they had left but further along past the curve they had seen beyond the pit. "Well, I'd say your 'path set in stone' has very obligingly made itself apparent. So lets go. Or would you like an engraved invitation as well?"

She spoke slightly indignantly. "Not funny Damien." With a tired sigh he answered. "You're right. I am sorry. This isn't the place you want to find yourself at the best of times and here we find ourselves at the worst possible time. And you are giving pure chaos, wild magic and the powers of creation something to do. In this case it turned out okay, but please don't make a habit of it. Such things won't always work in our favor, and I'd rather not be present when everything goes wrong."

Cautiously, because the strange colored mists were still swirling around the area, they started to make their way over to the hallway. Three of the smallest clouds of mist, one of each color, joined into one and embraced Kira and were absorbed into her body, but as they seemed to have no effect upon her aside from giving her a bit of a surprise they continued on without further incident.

They entered the hallway and the wall closed with an ominous click. To the left was the molten glow of liquid rock and to the right was the same curve in the hall they had seen before headed to the right this time as they were on the other side of it.

Here too the walls had that look to them that something unusual was happening just beneath the surface. And that was even under the layers of gears, pistons, and other less identifiable mechanical components that covered most of the finished stonework. Multiple pipes that obviously carried steam had reconnected to their pieces within the segment of the wall as did various gears and other unknown gizmos and continued whatever their function was.

Immediately to her right was a leaver sticking out of the wall but Kira didn't see it before leaning on it. The leaver moved easily and they heard a rumble from around the curve in the hall. Within moments they were rejoined by their friends and they were able to continue on to their goal of escape from their nightmare.


End file.
